64
JANUARY 2013
•
HEMISPHERESMAGAZINE.COM
CONSIDER THIS FORAMOMENT:
One in every 17
hardcover novels sold in the U.S. has James Pat-
terson’s name on it.
One in 17.
A spinner of dark,
propulsive thrillers, Pa erson ismore thanhot—
he’s a force of nature, having soldmore than 275
million books since he began publishing in 1976.
Of course, it’s not only Pa ersonwielding the
pen. A former advertising exec who retired in
1996,
Pa erson now runs an authorial-industrial
complex of sorts. Working by himself or with
a small circle of co-authors, he writes or produces dozens of serial
novels about hismain characters (most notablyAlexCross andMichael
Benne ), plus one-offthrillers, romancenovels andyoung adult fiction.
He is also deeply involved in every aspect of bringing his books—109
of them thus far—to the public.
In Pa erson’s newnovel,
Private Berlin,
wri enwithMark Sullivan
and out this month, a top agent at a high-tech German private inves-
tigation firm suddenly disappears. As his colleagues follow
his trail, the mystery deepens and the team is beset by
lurking dangers and shocking discoveries. (Somewhat less
suspenseful is the question of where
Private Berlin
will debut on the bestseller lists.)
When we called, Patterson was in New York
with his son, Jack, for the premiere of
Alex Cross
,
the latest movie to feature his unstoppable D.C.
detective. “Is James Pa erson there?” we asked.
The person at the other end held the phone
away from his ear and shouted, “James!” Then
the same voice came back on the line. “Ohwait, I
guess that’s me.”
THE
HEMI
Q&A:
JAMESPATTERSON
PEN PALS
From top, the author at
work; with his son, Jack;
attending the premiere of
the film
Alex Cross
with,
from left, actor Matthew
Fox, director Rob Cohen
and actors Rachel
Nichols, Tyler Perry and
Edward Burns
